31 research outputs found
The historical vanishing of the Blazhko effect of RR Lyr from GEOS and Kepler surveys
RR Lyr is one of the most studied variable stars. Its light curve has been
regularly monitored since the discovery of the periodic variability in 1899.
Analysis of all observed maxima allows us to identify two primary pulsation
states defined as pulsation over a long (P0 longer than 0.56684 d) and a short
(P0 shorter than 0.56682 d) primary pulsation period. These states alternate
with intervals of 13-16 yr, and are well defined after 1943. The 40.8 d
periodical modulations of the amplitude and the period (i.e. Blazhko effect)
were noticed in 1916. We provide homogeneous determinations of the Blazhko
period in the different primary pulsation states. The Blazhko period does not
follow the variations of P0 and suddenly diminished from 40.8 d to around 39.0
d in 1975. The monitoring of these periodicities deserved and deserves a
continuous and intensive observational effort. For this purpose we have built
dedicated, transportable and autonomous small instruments, Very Tiny Telescopes
(VTTs), to observe the times of maximum brightness of RR Lyr. As immediate
results the VTTs recorded the last change of P0 state in mid-2009 and extended
the time coverage of the Kepler observations, thus recording a maximum O-C
amplitude of the Blazhko effect at the end of 2008, followed by the
historically smallest O-C amplitude in late 2013. This decrease is still
ongoing and VTT instruments are ready to monitor the expected increase in the
next few years.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Contents of
appendix B may be requested to first autho
The magnificent past of RR Lyrae variables
We briefly review the results obtained by using the times of maximum brightness of RR Lyrae variables. They cover more than 120 years and have been used to study the evolutionary changes of the pulsational periods, the different shapes of the Blazhko effect among Galactic RRab stars, and the interplay between pulsational and Blazhko periods in the eponym of the class, RR Lyr. The data are stored in the GEOS database, continuously fed by contributions from professional and amateur astronomers. <P /
Spin states of asteroids in the Eos collisional family
Eos family was created during a catastrophic impact about 1.3 Gyr ago.
Rotation states of individual family members contain information about the
history of the whole population. We aim to increase the number of asteroid
shape models and rotation states within the Eos collision family, as well as to
revise previously published shape models from the literature. Such results can
be used to constrain theoretical collisional and evolution models of the
family, or to estimate other physical parameters by a thermophysical modeling
of the thermal infrared data. We use all available disk-integrated optical data
(i.e., classical dense-in-time photometry obtained from public databases and
through a large collaboration network as well as sparse-in-time individual
measurements from a few sky surveys) as input for the convex inversion method,
and derive 3D shape models of asteroids together with their rotation periods
and orientations of rotation axes. We present updated shape models for 15
asteroids and new shape model determinations for 16 asteroids. Together with
the already published models from the publicly available DAMIT database, we
compiled a sample of 56 Eos family members with known shape models that we used
in our analysis of physical properties within the family. Rotation states of
asteroids smaller than ~20 km are heavily influenced by the YORP effect, whilst
the large objects more or less retained their rotation state properties since
the family creation. Moreover, we also present a shape model and bulk density
of asteroid (423) Diotima, an interloper in the Eos family, based on the
disk-resolved data obtained by the Near InfraRed Camera (Nirc2) mounted on the
W.M. Keck II telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in ICARUS Special Issue - Asteroids: Origin,
Evolution & Characterizatio
The non-convex shape of (234) Barbara, the first Barbarian
Asteroid (234) Barbara is the prototype of a category of asteroids that has
been shown to be extremely rich in refractory inclusions, the oldest material
ever found in the Solar System. It exhibits several peculiar features, most
notably its polarimetric behavior. In recent years other objects sharing the
same property (collectively known as "Barbarians") have been discovered.
Interferometric observations in the mid-infrared with the ESO VLTI suggested
that (234) Barbara might have a bi-lobated shape or even a large companion
satellite. We use a large set of 57 optical lightcurves acquired between 1979
and 2014, together with the timings of two stellar occultations in 2009, to
determine the rotation period, spin-vector coordinates, and 3-D shape of (234)
Barbara, using two different shape reconstruction algorithms. By using the
lightcurves combined to the results obtained from stellar occultations, we are
able to show that the shape of (234) Barbara exhibits large concave areas.
Possible links of the shape to the polarimetric properties and the object
evolution are discussed. We also show that VLTI data can be modeled without the
presence of a satellite.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
SOPHIE velocimetry of Kepler transit candidates XII. KOI-1257 b: a highly eccentric three-month period transiting exoplanet
In this paper we report a new transiting warm giant planet: KOI-1257 b. It
was first detected in photometry as a planet-candidate by the
space telescope and then validated thanks to a radial velocity follow-up with
the SOPHIE spectrograph. It orbits its host star with a period of 86.647661 d
3 s and a high eccentricity of 0.772 0.045. The planet transits the
main star of a metal-rich, relatively old binary system with stars of mass of
0.99 0.05 Msun and 0.70 0.07 Msun for the primary and secondary,
respectively. This binary system is constrained thanks to a self-consistent
modelling of the transit light curve, the SOPHIE radial
velocities, line bisector and full-width half maximum (FWHM) variations, and
the spectral energy distribution. However, future observations are needed to
confirm it. The PASTIS fully-Bayesian software was used to validate the nature
of the planet and to determine which star of the binary system is the transit
host. By accounting for the dilution from the binary both in photometry and in
radial velocity, we find that the planet has a mass of 1.45 0.35 Mjup,
and a radius of 0.94 0.12 Rjup, and thus a bulk density of 2.1
1.2 g.cm. The planet has an equilibrium temperature of 511 50 K,
making it one of the few known members of the warm-jupiter population. The
HARPS-N spectrograph was also used to observe a transit of KOI-1257 b,
simultaneously with a joint amateur and professional photometric follow-up,
with the aim of constraining the orbital obliquity of the planet. However, the
Rossiter-McLaughlin effect was not clearly detected, resulting in poor
constraints on the orbital obliquity of the planet.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Asteroids' physical models from combined dense and sparse photometry and scaling of the YORP effect by the observed obliquity distribution
The larger number of models of asteroid shapes and their rotational states
derived by the lightcurve inversion give us better insight into both the nature
of individual objects and the whole asteroid population. With a larger
statistical sample we can study the physical properties of asteroid
populations, such as main-belt asteroids or individual asteroid families, in
more detail. Shape models can also be used in combination with other types of
observational data (IR, adaptive optics images, stellar occultations), e.g., to
determine sizes and thermal properties. We use all available photometric data
of asteroids to derive their physical models by the lightcurve inversion method
and compare the observed pole latitude distributions of all asteroids with
known convex shape models with the simulated pole latitude distributions. We
used classical dense photometric lightcurves from several sources and
sparse-in-time photometry from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff,
Catalina Sky Survey, and La Palma surveys (IAU codes 689, 703, 950) in the
lightcurve inversion method to determine asteroid convex models and their
rotational states. We also extended a simple dynamical model for the spin
evolution of asteroids used in our previous paper. We present 119 new asteroid
models derived from combined dense and sparse-in-time photometry. We discuss
the reliability of asteroid shape models derived only from Catalina Sky Survey
data (IAU code 703) and present 20 such models. By using different values for a
scaling parameter cYORP (corresponds to the magnitude of the YORP momentum) in
the dynamical model for the spin evolution and by comparing synthetics and
observed pole-latitude distributions, we were able to constrain the typical
values of the cYORP parameter as between 0.05 and 0.6.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, January 15, 201
The non-convex shape of (234) Barbara, the first Barbarian
Asteroid (234) Barbara is the prototype of a category of asteroids that has been shown to be extremely rich in refractory inclusions, the oldest material ever found in the Solar system. It exhibits several peculiar features, most notably its polarimetric behaviour. In recent years other objects sharing the same property (collectively known as ‘Barbarians') have been discovered. Interferometric observations in the mid-infrared with the ESO VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) suggested that (234) Barbara might have a bi-lobated shape or even a large companion satellite. We use a large set of 57 optical light curves acquired between 1979 and 2014, together with the timings of two stellar occultations in 2009, to determine the rotation period, spin-vector coordinates, and 3-D shape of (234) Barbara, using two different shape reconstruction algorithms. By using the light curves combined to the results obtained from stellar occultations, we are able to show that the shape of (234) Barbara exhibits large concave areas. Possible links of the shape to the polarimetric properties and the object evolution are discussed. We also show that VLTI data can be modelled without the presence of a satellit
ExoClock Project. III. 450 New Exoplanet Ephemerides from Ground and Space Observations
The ExoClock project has been created to increase the efficiency of the Ariel mission. It will achieve this by continuously monitoring and updating the ephemerides of Ariel candidates, in order to produce a consistent catalog of reliable and precise ephemerides. This work presents a homogenous catalog of updated ephemerides for 450 planets, generated by the integration of ∼18,000 data points from multiple sources. These sources include observations from ground-based telescopes (the ExoClock network and the Exoplanet Transit Database), midtime values from the literature, and light curves from space telescopes (Kepler, K2, and TESS). With all the above, we manage to collect observations for half of the postdiscovery years (median), with data that have a median uncertainty less than 1 minute. In comparison with the literature, the ephemerides generated by the project are more precise and less biased. More than 40% of the initial literature ephemerides had to be updated to reach the goals of the project, as they were either of low precision or drifting. Moreover, the integrated approach of the project enables both the monitoring of the majority of the Ariel candidates (95%), and also the identification of missing data. These results highlight the need for continuous monitoring to increase the observing coverage of the candidate planets. Finally, the extended observing coverage of planets allows us to detect trends (transit-timing variations) for a sample of 19 planets. All the products, data, and codes used in this work are open and accessible to the wider scientific community
ExoClock Project III: 450 new exoplanet ephemerides from ground and space observations
The ExoClock project has been created with the aim of increasing the
efficiency of the Ariel mission. It will achieve this by continuously
monitoring and updating the ephemerides of Ariel candidates over an extended
period, in order to produce a consistent catalogue of reliable and precise
ephemerides. This work presents a homogenous catalogue of updated ephemerides
for 450 planets, generated by the integration of 18000 data points from
multiple sources. These sources include observations from ground-based
telescopes (ExoClock network and ETD), mid-time values from the literature and
light-curves from space telescopes (Kepler/K2 and TESS). With all the above, we
manage to collect observations for half of the post-discovery years (median),
with data that have a median uncertainty less than one minute. In comparison
with literature, the ephemerides generated by the project are more precise and
less biased. More than 40\% of the initial literature ephemerides had to be
updated to reach the goals of the project, as they were either of low precision
or drifting. Moreover, the integrated approach of the project enables both the
monitoring of the majority of the Ariel candidates (95\%), and also the
identification of missing data. The dedicated ExoClock network effectively
supports this task by contributing additional observations when a gap in the
data is identified. These results highlight the need for continuous monitoring
to increase the observing coverage of the candidate planets. Finally, the
extended observing coverage of planets allows us to detect trends (TTVs -
Transit Timing Variations) for a sample of 19 planets. All products, data, and
codes used in this work are open and accessible to the wider scientific
community.Comment: Recommended for publication to ApJS (reviewer's comments
implemented). Main body: 13 pages, total: 77 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables. Data
available at http://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/P298